San Francisco, September 9, 2014—The Walt Disney Family
Museum is pleased to present All Aboard: A Celebration of Walt’s Trains, on
view from November 13, 2014 through February 9, 2015. This comprehensive
exhibition explores the influence that railroading had on Walt Disney's life and
work. It also tells the story of how his railroading legacy lives on to this
day in Disney films and theme parks around the world. Including more than
200 artifacts, firsthand accounts, archival videos, images of Walt and his
trains, and actual model trains running throughout the show,All Aboard highlights
how Walt's passion for trains developed long before manifesting itself in
Disney short cartoons, feature films, and in Walt's personal life at
home.

Guest curator Michael Campbell, president of the Carolwood Pacific
Historical Society, constructed the exhibition to reflect Walt’s railroad
journey as told through multiple chapters: Lighting the Fire, Building
Steam, Gaining Speed, Full Throttle, Switching Tracks, Branching Out, A Grand
Circle Tour Around The World, and Coming Full Circle. The
exhibition’s conclusion reminds us that, even over a century later, Walt’s
railroading influence remains as a vibrant and relevant force.

In the early 1900s, trains weren’t just a means of transportation;
they were a lifeline and critical to the development of the United States.
Walt’s father Elias, along with his Uncle Mike, worked on the railroad. This
instigated Walt‘s fascination of railroading. One of Walt’s earliest jobs was
as a news butcher for a few months in 1916, selling magazines and snacks on the
Missouri Pacific, Kansas City Southern, and the Missouri-Kansas-Texas
railroads. About this experience, Walt said: “My railroad career was brief,
exciting, and unprofitable.” Little did he know that a number of his later
successes would involve railroading, in both his personal and professional
lives.

During a cross-country rail trip to New York in early 1928, Walt
not only lost his cartoon star Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, but also half of his
animation staff to his film distributor. Before boarding the return train to
California, Walt sent his brother Roy a telegram: “Don’t worry, everything OK.”
On the train home, Walt contemplated a new character—a mouse, which he named
Mortimer. His wife Lillian had a different idea, and, with their collaboration
on a name, Mickey Mouse was born.

After Mickey’s debut in Steamboat Willie on
November 18, 1928, he would star with a train in the 1929 short Mickey’s
Choo-Choo. Trains would also make appearances in future Disney shorts and
films, either as plot devices or as characters of their own—with The
Brave Engineer (1950) and Casey Jr. from the 1941 classic Dumbo.
In the move to live-action films, it was inevitable that the Studios began
featuring more trains, including the ones seen in So Dear to My
Heart and The Great Locomotive Chase. Around this time,
Walt also fulfilled a long-time desire: he bought and built a tabletop model
train layout in his office suite, running it whenever he had a spare moment. He
enjoyed showing it off to visitors, including some of his own animators who
were train buffs themselves .

In July of 1948, Walt boarded a train to attend the Chicago
Railroad Fair. In addition to being invited to participate in the
“Wheels-a-Rolling” pageant—where classic trains paraded by—Walt was deeply
moved by the recreation of the funeral train for the president he most admired:
Abraham Lincoln. Also, after visiting the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn,
Michigan on his way back to California, Walt was impressed and inspired by the
attractions of this park, which included a 4-4-0 locomotive that pulled guests
around the estate. When he returned home, Walt constructed his own steam
engine—a 1/8th scale model, that he named
the Lilly Belle in honor of his wife Lillian. This train
circled on a half-mile track, looping around his home in Holmby Hills. Also at
this time, he began documenting ideas for a “Mickey Mouse Park,” a family park
he would build that would include a railroad station.

Walt was undeniably a great storyteller. So it came as no surprise
when he used railroading as a tool to fully immerse his audience in stories
planted throughout his Magic Kingdom: Disneyland. In all of the Park’s lands,
locomotives served a greater purpose than just transportation. They were also
essential elements to the story, responsible for helping guests imagine
themselves part of an American train voyage at the turn of the 20th Century.

The journey of this exhibition doesn’t start and end with just
Walt, though. All Aboard also explores the interest and
passion for railroading of Walt’s friends and staff, including two of Walt’s
“Nine Old Men,” animators Ward Kimball and Ollie Johnston. Notably, Kimball was
the first private owner of a full-sized steam locomotive, and Johnston’s
railroading hobby was latent until he stumbled upon the miniature train Walt
was building in his office. Showcased alongside the animators are WED
Enterprises’ Imagineers - “Imagination Engineers” - Roger Broggie and Bob Gurr,
whose creative locomotives helped Walt transport his guests throughout
Disneyland, and later, the Magic Kingdom Park in the Walt Disney World Resort.

Finally, All
Aboard will reveal how Walt’s railroad legacy continues today. Guests
will learn how Disney theme parks and films continue to honor trains and
railroading, from recent creations to those that have yet to be imagined.

All Aboard: A Celebration of Walt’s Trains is
produced by The Walt Disney Family Museum and is made possible, in part, with
support from Lionel, LLC.

ABOUT THE CURATOR

Michael Campbell’s love of steam railroading was sparked by a
childhood trip to Disneyland. He is currently the President of the Carolwood
Pacific Historical Society and a Board Member Emeritus of the Carolwood Foundation,
the non-profit organization that maintains and operates Walt Disney's Barn in
Griffith Park. Exhibitions celebrating Walt's love of trains, planned and
prepared by Campbell, were showcased at the California State Railroad Museum in
2002 and at the Disney Gallery in 2012. Campbell has presented talks about Walt
and railroading for many groups, including Disneyland Resort, Walt Disney World
Resort, Pixar Animation Studios, and various schools, charities and railroad
organizations. Recently, he was the Project Director for the Carolwood
Foundation's project to acquire, restore, and preserve the Wells Fargo Combine:
Walt’s favorite car from his Santa Fe and Disneyland Railroad passenger
train.

Campbell—in collaboration with Walt’s daughter Diane Disney
Miller, and her son Walter Elias Disney Miller—assisted in the creation of
railroad-related content on view in The Walt Disney Family Museum’s core
galleries.

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ABOUT THE MUSEUM

The Walt Disney Family Museum presents the fascinating story and achievements
of Walt Disney, the man who raised animation to an art, transformed the film
industry, tirelessly pursued innovation, and created a global and distinctively
American legacy. Opened in October 2009, the 40,000 square foot facility
features the newest technology and historic materials and artifacts to bring
Disney’s achievements to life, with interactive galleries that include early
drawings and animation, movies, music, listening stations, a spectacular model
of Disneyland and much more.

Hours:
10am to 6pm, Wednesdays through Monday; closed on Tuesdays and the following
public holidays: New Year’s Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.

Where:
The
Presidio of San Francisco, 104 Montgomery Street, San Francisco, CA 94129